Season Tickets 2018/19

[blueboy3333]

Just though I'd start the thread because I see other clubs are releasing details for next season. The two I've read about (Shrewsbury and Forest) have both introduced a new category of cheap tickets for fans aged under 24 and under 23 respectively.  At Forest, for example, a season ticket for someone aged 18-23 will be £100 wherever they sit while the adult prices in the same areas will be anything from £330 upwards. https://www.nottinghamforest.co.uk/news/2018/february/forest-announce-2018-19-season-card-prices/

A wise move. Hope we follow suit.

[Mattyblue]

I just hope that if this season does go the way we all want, the club capitalises on it and doesn't wait until July to get them on sale...

[RevidgeBlue]

Just now, blueboy3333 said:

Just though I'd start the thread because I see other clubs are releasing details for next season. The two I've read about (Shrewsbury and Forest) have both introduced a new category of cheap tickets for fans aged under 24 and under 23 respectively.  At Forest, for example, a season ticket for someone aged 18-23 will be £100 wherever they sit while the adult prices in the same areas will be anything from £330 upwards. https://www.nottinghamforest.co.uk/news/2018/february/forest-announce-2018-19-season-card-prices/

A wise move. Hope we follow suit.

I'm all for cheap prices for 16 -18 year olds or anyone over 18 in full time education. Orherwise why should a ticket for an over 18 be any cheaper than an adult one?  In relative terms the season tickets are cheap as chips anyway.

[blueboy3333]

Just now, Mattyblue said:

I just hope that if this season does go the way we all want, the club capitalises on it and doesn't wait until July to get them on sale...

Shrewsbury have an early bird (1 of 3) which runs until the middle of April so they aren't messing about waiting to see where they end up next season.  

[blueboy3333]

Just now, RevidgeBlue said:

I'm all for cheap prices for 16 -18 year olds or anyone over 18 in full time education. Orherwise why should a ticket for an over 18 be any cheaper than an adult one?  In relative terms the season tickets are cheap as chips anyway.

To attract young adults to the game who don't have much money perhaps, so that when they are 24+ they have a built a bond with the club that means they will carry on buying them and following their local team. There are a lot of things to spend your money on between 18-24, a few hundred on a season-ticket is probably not a priority when you may not earn a lot or are on the dole. When you were that age you could buy a house and a season ticket for a grand  

There's a reason why Forest are doing it even though their crowds are twice the size of ours and they fill most of their ground. They are safeguarding their future support.

Edited March 6, 2018 by blueboy3333

[blueboy3333]

Just now, MGPensioner said:

This must be a joke thread.

If it is you're the perfect poster to engage with it.

[JHRover]

12 minutes ago, RevidgeBlue said:

In relative terms the season tickets are cheap as chips anyway.

The cheapest adult season ticket at Rovers this season is £279 in the Riverside (EARLY Bird price). This is more or less the average season ticket price in League One.

Wimbledon, Blackpool, Bradford, Bristol Rovers, Bury, Charlton, Fleetwood, Northampton, Rochdale, Walsall and Wigan all offered cheaper adult season tickets.

After the early bird period expired the cheapest was £319. Only Gillingham, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Rotherham and Southend had higher minimum prices for non-early bird season ticket buyers.

If we apply that price to the Championship this season then for those who got early bird tickets at £279 then Barnsley, Birmingham, Burton, Fulham and Hull were offering cheaper than that. Apply the non-early bird lowest adult price of £319 and add Wolves, Sheff Utd, Reading, Derby, Cardiff and Bolton to that list of clubs.

I'm not complaining about our prices, I'm not criticising the club, I feel they are reasonable and competitive, but I also think there is a lingering myth from the Premier League days that we're still basically giving away tickets at low prices and that they are much cheaper than most other clubs. They aren't. Some clubs are more expensive, but most are similar or cheaper.

 

[RevidgeBlue]

Just now, blueboy3333 said:

To attract young adults to the game who don't have much money perhaps?

It works out about £30 p.m. on a season ticket on D/D in the Darwen End. If people can't afford that it isn't really the Club's fault and I imagine the  majority of the lads and lasses we're talking about wouldn't blink at spending £50 upwards getting lashed on a night out.

[blueboy3333]

Just now, RevidgeBlue said:

It works out about £30 p.m. on a season ticket on D/D in the Darwen End. If people can't afford that it isn't really the Club's fault and I imagine the  majority of the lads and lasses we're talking about wouldn't blink at spending £50 upwards getting lashed on a night out.

I'm amazed you know the spending habits of the lads and lasses we're talking about.

Bottom line, football clubs have realised they are not attracting younger fans in the numbers that they used to. They recently did a survey where they got the average age of those going on the Stretford End - it was 40 years old. In the 70's it was 20 years old. That is a huge problem for the future and it is the same up and down the divisions. With respect, you seem a bit out of touch with football demographics and the spending power of 18-23 years olds in poor Northern towns. In the same vein you also seem to have forgotten that nearly two thirds of our stadium is empty every week. If a thousand young adults turn up next season who wouldn't normally turn up simply because tickets are £100 then that is a £100k the club wouldn't otherwise have had. Those people may then go on to buy adult tickets at adult prices a few years down the line because they get the bug. I bet you weren't grumbling when Williams slashed season tickets for adults all those years ago.

As for affordability, if young adults can't afford tickets then YES it is the clubs fault for not pricing them properly. Basic economics, pal.

[Tom]

The club has been pretty consitent with pricing, still representing good value even in this league.

Although Chaddy has said he'd pay £2.3k for a season ticket so I'm glad fans don't have an input! 

 

Edited March 6, 2018 by Tom

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

If recent pricing ( cat A games ) is anything to go buy I would be expecting a significant price increase across the board.

[RevidgeBlue]

35 minutes ago, blueboy3333 said:

I'm amazed you know the spending habits of the lads and lasses we're talking about.

Bottom line, football clubs have realised they are not attracting younger fans in the numbers that they used to. They recently did a survey where they got the average age of those going on the Stretford End - it was 40 years old. In the 70's it was 20 years old. That is a huge problem for the future and it is the same up and down the divisions. With respect, you seem a bit out of touch with football demographics and the spending power of 18-23 years olds in poor Northern towns. In the same vein you also seem to have forgotten that nearly two thirds of our stadium is empty every week. If a thousand young adults turn up next season who wouldn't normally turn up simply because tickets are £100 then that is a £100k the club wouldn't otherwise have had. Those people may then go on to buy adult tickets at adult prices a few years down the line because they get the bug. I bet you weren't grumbling when Williams slashed season tickets for adults all those years ago.

As for affordability, if young adults can't afford tickets then YES it is the clubs fault for not pricing them properly. Basic economics, pal.

If you want to catch young people then the time to do it is when they are children and get them hooked. I'd be amazed if the main reason young adults didn't go to Rovers was the price per se, i'd guess at that age it would be more to do with choice, deciding that it was more important to go out socialising and chasing the opposite sex as oppposed to wasting your leisure time watching a mediore championship/League 1 side.

[RevidgeBlue]

39 minutes ago, blueboy3333 said:

As for affordability, if young adults can't afford tickets then YES it is the clubs fault for not pricing them properly. Basic economics, pal.

What rubbish, I'd love a brand new car but can't afford one. By your "logic" that's Ford's fault so they should halve the price of their new cars so I and thousands like me could possibly afford one.

Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't be averse to doing something really drastic to try and fill the stadium, like reduce prices for everyone to a fiver as long as the owners were happy to take the financial hit and lose even more money but to virtually give tickets away to a small section of the adult population who are perfectly capable of full time work purely on account of their age seems a terrible idea to me. If I'm in the minority on that so be it.

[blueboy3333]

40 minutes ago, RevidgeBlue said:

What rubbish, I'd love a brand new car but can't afford one. By your "logic" that's Ford's fault so they should halve the price of their new cars so I and thousands like me could possibly afford one.

Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't be averse to doing something really drastic to try and fill the stadium, like reduce prices for everyone to a fiver as long as the owners were happy to take the financial hit and lose even more money but to virtually give tickets away to a small section of the adult population who are perfectly capable of full time work purely on account of their age seems a terrible idea to me. If I'm in the minority on that so be it.

Supply and Demand. If Ford couldn't sell enough cars and they had thousands laying idle on production forecourts because people couldn't afford them they'd either have to reduce the price or slow production. Rovers can't slow production because there are a set number of tickets available each season. Therefore, because Rovers can't fill the ground they have to cut the price of tickets, especially for the age-group who may have less disposable income than older folk who may have paid off their mortgage etc. You couldn't have thought of a worse comparison.

You ignored my point about Williams slashing prices for all adults back in the day. Were you against it? Or were you just happy you were benefitting?

Also, you seem to be ignoring the fact that Blackburn is not a rich area and that young people do not have a great choice of well-paying jobs. Have you heard of zero-hours contracts on the minimum wage being the only jobs ex-students with £40k in student loans to pay off can get? What are they going to do when they get paid, spend £400 on a season ticket? Or what about some working-class kid from a poor background with no qualifications who can't get a job but loves Rovers? He/she might be able to afford £100 but not £400.  Should he/she miss out from attending a stadium that has nearly 20,000 empty seats most weeks?  There's a reason Forest making tickets cheap for young adults up to the age of 24, and it's not because there are a queue of them waiting to snap them up at full price because they've all got great jobs and can afford it. And Nottingham has asl much going for it than Blackburn, and probably a bit more

You're 'capable of full-time work' line is instructive. LOL. Are you related to IDS or Heseltine? 'Bloody scroungers, they should get on their bikes and find work'.

Football is a rip-off and for the most part the preserve of middle-class, middle-age adults. £27 for a league 1 walk-on ticket is a disgrace and it's no wonder there is very little take-up.

As for your point about getting them in young it only tells half the story. When young lads and lasses get to the age when they have to pay for the ticket themselves and they also have to run a house with a new baby what do you think takes priority? Charging £100 for a season ticket is a brilliant idea at that stage in their lives. Not everyone has the benefit of bank of mum and dad.

Pricing young people out of football is never a good idea. It's great some clubs have finally recognised that and are pricing tickets accordingly.

It's great though that's you'd be happy for the owners to something drastic that would benefit you, but not something that would benefit the age group you're not in

Laters, Comrade.

 

 

Edited March 6, 2018 by blueboy3333

[FGS5635]

How many do become lifers though. As soon as it gets tough and the standard drops, them fans will just stop coming because its rubbish boycott

[Oldgregg86]

8 hours ago, RevidgeBlue said:

I'm all for cheap prices for 16 -18 year olds or anyone over 18 in full time education. Orherwise why should a ticket for an over 18 be any cheaper than an adult one?  In relative terms the season tickets are cheap as chips anyway.

I agree between  18-24 is when I had the most expendable cash. I was in full time employment, no kids, and these days most people still live with there parents. Why should a 23 year old get a reduced seat yet people with mortgages , kids etc have to pay full whack when it's people in the 25- 35 starting families and buying homes etc who usually have have to make choices on whether their money can stretch to pay for football after paying out for everything else. Seems odd to me.

Edited March 7, 2018 by Oldgregg86

[RevidgeBlue]

4 hours ago, blueboy3333 said:

Supply and Demand. If Ford couldn't sell enough cars and they had thousands laying idle on production forecourts because people couldn't afford them they'd either have to reduce the price or slow production. Rovers can't slow production because there are a set number of tickets available each season. Therefore, because Rovers can't fill the ground they have to cut the price of tickets, especially for the age-group who may have less disposable income than older folk who may have paid off their mortgage etc. You couldn't have thought of a worse comparison.

You ignored my point about Williams slashing prices for all adults back in the day. Were you against it? Or were you just happy you were benefitting?

Also, you seem to be ignoring the fact that Blackburn is not a rich area and that young people do not have a great choice of well-paying jobs. Have you heard of zero-hours contracts on the minimum wage being the only jobs ex-students with £40k in student loans to pay off can get? What are they going to do when they get paid, spend £400 on a season ticket? Or what about some working-class kid from a poor background with no qualifications who can't get a job but loves Rovers? He/she might be able to afford £100 but not £400.  Should he/she miss out from attending a stadium that has nearly 20,000 empty seats most weeks?  There's a reason Forest making tickets cheap for young adults up to the age of 24, and it's not because there are a queue of them waiting to snap them up at full price because they've all got great jobs and can afford it. And Nottingham has asl much going for it than Blackburn, and probably a bit more

You're 'capable of full-time work' line is instructive. LOL. Are you related to IDS or Heseltine? 'Bloody scroungers, they should get on their bikes and find work'.

Football is a rip-off and for the most part the preserve of middle-class, middle-age adults. £27 for a league 1 walk-on ticket is a disgrace and it's no wonder there is very little take-up.

As for your point about getting them in young it only tells half the story. When young lads and lasses get to the age when they have to pay for the ticket themselves and they also have to run a house with a new baby what do you think takes priority? Charging £100 for a season ticket is a brilliant idea at that stage in their lives. Not everyone has the benefit of bank of mum and dad.

Pricing young people out of football is never a good idea. It's great some clubs have finally recognised that and are pricing tickets accordingly.

It's great though that's you'd be happy for the owners to something drastic that would benefit you, but not something that would benefit the age group you're not in

Laters, Comrade.

 

 

Your argument about supply and demand only stacks up if price is the only thing stopping 18 -24 year olds from attending foorball and whilst that may be the case at Premier League level where season ticket prices can run into 4 figures, as already explained I dont think it i is in our case  The Club has already made football affordable for nearly all by introducing the direct debit scheme a number of years ago and a season ticket in the Riverside is a fraction over 30 quid a month for 9 months. No-one has to find £400 or even £279 up front. Without wishing to sound too harsh if you can't afford that then you should probably not be thinking about buying football season tickets but spending your income on essentials instead.

The other point you made was about the across the board price reductions years ago. They were a good idea because they benefitted everyone not just a small proportion of the fan base. As Old gregg points out there will be quite a lot of  18 -24 year olds who still live at home and have quite a bit of disposable income. Equally there will be many who are hard up but there'll also be many people who are hard up in any other age range you care to mention as well. Why should someone aged 18-24 get a cheap ticket, but someone who's aged say 28 -34  and who is struggling financially for whatever reason doesn't?

Not that I'm saying either group should benefit as the price of tickets isn't means tested (other than on the very basic level of whether you're allowed to work or not) and the idea seems very unfair to me.

[barry_]

If the club increases the cost of the season tickets then it will deter people from getting one.

I'd hope that the club would be brave and go the opposite way and reduce ticket prices to encourage more season tickets to be sold.

(some hope, I know)

Edited March 7, 2018 by barry_

[blueboy3333]

https://www.mkdons.com/tickets/season-tickets/season-tickets--recognise-young-adults/

More clubs doing it. U25 ST at MK Dons. Their rationale :  As young supporters turn 18, the Club recognises the competing pressures to watch live football, from both personal finances to lifestyles....To retain young adults and encourage them to bring new friends to watch..."

Key word here is retain. Getting them young isn't enough. You have to retain them in this crucial age bracket between 18-25.

It's no coincidence clubs are suddenly doing this. They'll know how many in this age bracket buy season-tickets.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/mar/08/how-football-lost-touch-young-fans

Good article...talks about how clubs incentivise families to bring their kids but offers no incentives to young adults once they have to pay full-whack for their own ST's, with the clubs just hoping they come back when they are older and are earning more,.  "It’s certainly a gamble, as Peter Daykin, a member of the Football Supporters’ Federation board, has seen at first hand. Daykin is a Sunderland fan, and in 2013, he tells me: “Kids are going to Sunderland with their parents until they are 15 or 16, then they outgrow that and simply stop going.”

The difference between here and Germany is also highlighted in the article. The average age of the fan there is 21-30 because they acknowledge the importance of young fans and they don't want an 'older fan scene' in the future, which is where we are now in this country.

As Whitney said, 'I believe young adults are the future'.

[blueboy3333]

8 hours ago, Oldgregg86 said:

I agree between  18-24 is when I had the most expendable cash. I was in full time employment, no kids, and these days most people still live with there parents. Why should a 23 year old get a reduced seat yet people with mortgages , kids etc have to pay full whack when it's people in the 25- 35 starting families and buying homes etc who usually have have to make choices on whether their money can stretch to pay for football after paying out for everything else. Seems odd to me.

Why do they get young person railcard's up to the age of 25?

I'd imagine the world is a lot different now to when you were 18-24 if you indeed are old Gregg. And I'd imagine football was a lot cheaper...and so was somewhere to live.

[darrenrover]

17 hours ago, blueboy3333 said:

Just though I'd start the thread because I see other clubs are releasing details for next season. The two I've read about (Shrewsbury and Forest) have both introduced a new category of cheap tickets for fans aged under 24 and under 23 respectively.  At Forest, for example, a season ticket for someone aged 18-23 will be £100 wherever they sit while the adult prices in the same areas will be anything from £330 upwards. https://www.nottinghamforest.co.uk/news/2018/february/forest-announce-2018-19-season-card-prices/

A wise move. Hope we follow suit.

I think it's a wise move too.

Up until 18, invariably the season tickets are paid for by parents.

£350/£400 is a big commitment when you're expected to stand on your own 2 feet financially for the first time. Many don't take the plunge and stop going, other than for an odd match and get out of the habit as a result.

I'm speaking from my experiences with my 2 lads, who are Rovers through and through still but very rarely go to games. 

[MarkBRFC]

The season ticket prices for next season will be the same as what they were this season after the early bird rate expired, no matter what division we end up in.

[darrenrover]

16 hours ago, RevidgeBlue said:

If you want to catch young people then the time to do it is when they are children and get them hooked. I'd be amazed if the main reason young adults didn't go to Rovers was the price per se, i'd guess at that age it would be more to do with choice, deciding that it was more important to go out socialising and chasing the opposite sex as oppposed to wasting your leisure time watching a mediore championship/League 1 side.

Parents pay for children's tickets Rev and they are good value. 18-24 year olds you would guess have to fork out the brass themselves and most stop going as a consequence because the cost is prohibitive or they've gone away to University. At £100 a season, you would probably keep them 'hooked' until such times as affording a full price ticket wasn't an issue.

I would even consider offering free season tickets to 18-24 year olds who had a season ticket for a 5-10 year period prior in order to keep the habit going.

From my personal perspective, I'm certain we'd have 2 more full paying season ticket holders now had something similar been in place a dozen years ago.

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

1 hour ago, MarkBRFC said:

The season ticket prices for next season will be the same as what they were this season after the early bird rate expired, no matter what division we end up in.

Don't count on that my friend!

[darrenrover]

49 minutes ago, MGPensioner said:

All this debate.

1. Last year they put up the prices despite relegation. Greg Coar explained the reasons why which nobody could really argue with. Expect they will go up again or stay the same.

2. They have said numerous times, most recently by Paul Senior and then by Steve Waggott. They cannot devalue the product.

3. They are already one of the cheapest and best value around. I can't believe anyone will not buy because of price. If you want one then buy one.

4. Nothing wrong with the idea of a special deal for young adults (in certain categories) like students, apprentices etc. Not for little Johnny who lives in the Ribble Valley with Mummy and Daddy.

 

I agree with your points 1-3 but 4 I strongly disagree with.

With regards to 2. 'the product' that was has been devalued immensely during the course of the past seven and a half years but that's not the 'debate' as I see it.

As regards 'little Johnny', I don't think it matters one iota where he/she lives, the fact is that they disappear from the scene and our supporter base diminishes further.

We have a stadium with a capacity of 31,500 which even in our pomp has only been to capacity twice, correct me if I'm wrong. We live in a town with challenging demographics and I have seen this issue for many years when kids reach the age of consent.

Any financial incentive to keep hold of any young supporters when they are at a vulnerable age and rightly expected to stand on their own 2 feet financially, should be wholeheartedly endorsed by all, irrespective of their background.

I fully endorse the initiatives of both Shrewsbury and Nottingham Forest. They're both clearly forward thinking clubs and have addressed something that they recognise as being an issue as do I and have done for years.

 

Edited March 7, 2018 by darrenrover